Page 24 - The South China Business Journal
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South China Business Journal
HIGHLIGHT G20Following the :
Trade as a (Re)work in
Progress
By Tami Overby, Senior Vice President, Asia, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Call it international trade’s (re)work in progress, the July G20 meeting produced:
Overcapacity
A united front on The joint statement issued following the Ham- The U.S. agreed to the trade language in the
overcapacity issues, burg summit talks of urgency in removing “mar- statement, but hasn’t yet announced what ac-
with an emphasis on ket-distorting subsidies” that foster overcapacity. tions, if any, it will take following its Section 232
steel – and some target The statement urges the OECD’s Global Forum steel and aluminum investigations. There also
deadlines for OECD has been substantial pushback from the interna-
recommendations on on Steel Excess Capacity “to fulfill their com- tional community, with European Commission
“concrete policy mitments” on information sharing and co- President Jean-Claude Juncker warning that the
solutions that reduce operation by August 2017, proposing mea- European Union would move swiftly if the U.S.
steel excess capacity.” sures by November “as a basis for tangible imposes quotas or tariffs on European steel im-
and swift policy action,” with “follow-up ports. “We would react with countermeasures
progress reporting in 2018.” within days,” he said in Hamburg on July 7.
With a not-so-veiled reference to ongoing Sources said the U.S. held back the Section 232
U.S. probes of national security implica- Report on steel ahead of the summit in hopes of
tions to steel imports, German Chancellor producing a “serious” discussion on collective
Angela Merkel said the OECD group, created at bargaining of overcapacity issues.
least year’s G20 summit, provides “a chance to
solve the steel overcapacity issues in a multilat-
eral way.” She said “otherwise the likelihood of
bilateral measures will increase.”
Trump talking trade A flurry of
comments
Through tweets and sideline comments, before After a meeting with Indonesian President from President
and after meetings with other G20 leaders. Trump Joko Widodo, Trump said “we will start Trump, advanc-
reinforced his commitment to one-on-one deal- doing a lot of trading with Indonesia. We ing his push for a
ings with scant mention of multilaterals. Ahead of do very little business, relatively, now. NAFTA redo and
a meeting with United Kingdom Prime Minister But we are going to do a lot of business.” his preference for
Theresa May, he said “we are working on a ... very, bilaterals, and
very big trade deal, a very powerful deal.” The UK Trump also cited “good progress” with renewing at-
can’t engage in trade talks until it formally exits Mexico on “negotiating” the North Amer- tacks on current
the EU, but Trump said “I think we’ll have that ican Free Trade Agreement redo, follow- arrangements.
done very, very quickly.” ing a meeting with Mexican President En-
rique Peña Nieto. But on the same day (July
22
HIGHLIGHT G20Following the :
Trade as a (Re)work in
Progress
By Tami Overby, Senior Vice President, Asia, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Call it international trade’s (re)work in progress, the July G20 meeting produced:
Overcapacity
A united front on The joint statement issued following the Ham- The U.S. agreed to the trade language in the
overcapacity issues, burg summit talks of urgency in removing “mar- statement, but hasn’t yet announced what ac-
with an emphasis on ket-distorting subsidies” that foster overcapacity. tions, if any, it will take following its Section 232
steel – and some target The statement urges the OECD’s Global Forum steel and aluminum investigations. There also
deadlines for OECD has been substantial pushback from the interna-
recommendations on on Steel Excess Capacity “to fulfill their com- tional community, with European Commission
“concrete policy mitments” on information sharing and co- President Jean-Claude Juncker warning that the
solutions that reduce operation by August 2017, proposing mea- European Union would move swiftly if the U.S.
steel excess capacity.” sures by November “as a basis for tangible imposes quotas or tariffs on European steel im-
and swift policy action,” with “follow-up ports. “We would react with countermeasures
progress reporting in 2018.” within days,” he said in Hamburg on July 7.
With a not-so-veiled reference to ongoing Sources said the U.S. held back the Section 232
U.S. probes of national security implica- Report on steel ahead of the summit in hopes of
tions to steel imports, German Chancellor producing a “serious” discussion on collective
Angela Merkel said the OECD group, created at bargaining of overcapacity issues.
least year’s G20 summit, provides “a chance to
solve the steel overcapacity issues in a multilat-
eral way.” She said “otherwise the likelihood of
bilateral measures will increase.”
Trump talking trade A flurry of
comments
Through tweets and sideline comments, before After a meeting with Indonesian President from President
and after meetings with other G20 leaders. Trump Joko Widodo, Trump said “we will start Trump, advanc-
reinforced his commitment to one-on-one deal- doing a lot of trading with Indonesia. We ing his push for a
ings with scant mention of multilaterals. Ahead of do very little business, relatively, now. NAFTA redo and
a meeting with United Kingdom Prime Minister But we are going to do a lot of business.” his preference for
Theresa May, he said “we are working on a ... very, bilaterals, and
very big trade deal, a very powerful deal.” The UK Trump also cited “good progress” with renewing at-
can’t engage in trade talks until it formally exits Mexico on “negotiating” the North Amer- tacks on current
the EU, but Trump said “I think we’ll have that ican Free Trade Agreement redo, follow- arrangements.
done very, very quickly.” ing a meeting with Mexican President En-
rique Peña Nieto. But on the same day (July
22
